Browse Forums DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 2Feb 13, 2015 9:11 am If the cistern fills up, then water pressure isn't the problem. If the bowl doesn't clear even paper, then has to be the bowl design or perhaps even something further down that is reducing the outflow of the toilet. On an existing home, you get that sort of issue when there is a partial blockage downstream of the toilet. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 3Feb 13, 2015 9:21 am I agree with Brendan. When my toilet does not flush properly ( in my 45 year old home) it is time to get the drains cleaned. The other alternative is the cistern is faulty (try flushing the toilet with a bucket of water.) If the water clears quickly it probably is not a blocked drain but a faulty cistern or perhaps a blocked vent pipe. Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 4Feb 13, 2015 9:42 am Thanks guys. I will try pouring a bucket of water down when I get home and will monitor how long it takes to empty. I have a plunger so I will try that in the toilet to see if it clears a blockage. What is a vent pipe??? (sorry, I am a newbie to this). Also, how do you check to see if the cistern is broken? any ideas / suggestions ? If it is a design fault... is there anything I can do to fix it? If they have to replace the toilet, would they need to rip up the tiles around the toilet? - because I don't have any spare tiles :S Thanks Luke. Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 5Feb 13, 2015 10:46 am elemental09 What is a vent pipe??? (sorry, I am a newbie to this). A vent pipe is a pipe which comes off the waste pipe after it has left the toilet and normally goes up to just above roof level When the toilet flushes the vent pipe releases any trapped air in the pipework downstream of the toilet reducing any 'Back Pressure' slowing the flush. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 6Feb 13, 2015 12:30 pm Its a 2 yr old home so it isnt going to be the toilet, as new toilets are very efficient in their designs now. Even a 3 litre flush should almost always clear the bowl of its contents. Take the lid off another cistern somewhere and acquaint yourself with how quickly the cistern empties on a flush, and what 3- 6 litres of water looks like emptying into a pan. So if thats all basically looking the same as your own toilet, it will be the the sewer pipe the pan connects to - its obviously not clearing fast enough. Time for a drain clean, or perhaps as other have said vent may be blocked. Or perhaps it wasnt designed as well as it could be in the first place? Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 7Feb 14, 2015 2:52 am You have received very good replies. It is an insufficient syphoning problem and this most probably comes back to either the pan design or the pipe. Some earlier pans were not well designed but the newer ones are a lot better. That leaves the pipe. Either way, the cheapest and easiest solution is to fit a larger cistern if that is possible but before doing that, be ready to pour an extra 1-2 litres into the cistern the next time it flushes. If it still doesn't clear, it will most probably be either a partial pipe blockage or a possible venting issue as the others have said. elemental09 I got a plumber to come out and have a look. He checked the water level and made sure the 'tap' under the toilet was on properly. He couldn't work out what was causing the problem. He suggested it might be a 'design problem' with the toilet, he seemed to think there was more water 'coming out the back' of the toilet then the front. It doesn't matter where the water comes from apart from the need to flush all around the pan, however, the pan should flush evenly and this suggests the possibility that the cistern isn't discharging quickly enough. Only a visual inspection can judge this. elemental09 The pump on my water tank is crap. I get incredibly bad water pressure on my outside tap / hose (connected to the tank). The plumber measured the water pressure at ... 250HPA? (sorry if that's the wrong measurement). He also measured the 'mains water' which routes through the plumbing of the tank at 220HPA, however, the actual 'MAINS' is fine - I got the water company to test it. The pump doesn't flush the toilet, the charged cistern discharge does this. Maybe you are being too hard on your pump. 250 kPa is reasonably good pressure but where was the pressure reading taken from and what is the pump's pressure or head rating? If you don't know, what is the pump make and model number? The pressure from the pump and the pressure in the pipe when there are no outlets open is called static head. As soon as you open an outlet, the moving water suffers friction loss along the pipe's length and this reduces the flow rate. The pressure at an open fixture is called dynamic head. If your tap has poor dynamic head, then it has suffered from excessive friction loss between the pump and the tap. The obvious cause will be that the pipe fitted between the tap and the pump is too small. If you are referring to a hose connected to the tap delivering poor pressure, is this because you are using a 12 mm standard garden hose? If so,...a 12 mm garden hose has 8 times more friction loss than an 18 mm hose when flowing at 20 lpm. To reduce friction loss, the solution is to buy an 18 mm garden hose and fit a couple of metres of 12 mm hose to the end so that you can still use your standard 12mm hose fittings. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 8Feb 14, 2015 2:07 pm If you do try another toilet, you shouldn't have to rip up tiles. The pan should be on top of the tiles not the other way. Note I said "Should be". The other suggestions as far as diagnosis are all worth trying. If you are going to buy another cistern I would say don't bother. It would cost about the same or sometimes more than buying a complete new suite Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 9Feb 15, 2015 8:12 am qebtel Its a 2 yr old home so it isnt going to be the toilet, as new toilets are very efficient in their designs now. Even a 3 litre flush should almost always clear the bowl of its contents. Take the lid off another cistern somewhere and acquaint yourself with how quickly the cistern empties on a flush, and what 3- 6 litres of water looks like emptying into a pan. You obviously haven't bought a toilet from Bunnings. We made that mistake less than 2 years ago. We bolught their cheap one and the bowl and neck is very small and takes 2 flushes. We ended up ripping it out and putting in a new one. Can't remember the brand (Bunnings have a few). So look at the base of the bowl. If it's smaller than standard that could be the problem. Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 10Feb 16, 2015 12:32 pm travelbug You obviously haven't bought a toilet from Bunnings. We made that mistake less than 2 years ago. We bolught their cheap one and the bowl and neck is very small and takes 2 flushes. We ended up ripping it out and putting in a new one. Can't remember the brand (Bunnings have a few). So look at the base of the bowl. If it's smaller than standard that could be the problem. Btw, its not the size of the bowl, its the shape ,and the design of how the water routes through the top of the pan and flows into the bottom of the pan that determines how well it flushes (all things being equal). Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 11Feb 16, 2015 2:15 pm Can't remember the brand but I know someone that bought the same one and ripped it out too. When you look into the bowl there is very little water in the bowl itself as it is shallow and narrow. I don't know if they still have that one. We bought a different one last time which was fine. Don't know the logistics, just that it's a pain in the neck. Re: Toilet - Low Water Pressure / Flushing Issue 12Feb 25, 2015 1:51 pm elemental09 Hi All, I get incredibly bad water pressure on my outside tap / hose (connected to the tank). I know very little about toilets, but I have read my pump manual and is says something along the lines of this; "typically, the first indication that you need to clean your pump filter is low water pressure" If you can calculate the reasonable charged head from let's say 100mm below the gutter to the top of where the vertical riser's horizontal discharge pipe will be, that… 11 18166 First time building 2 storey home, is under construction (in Framing stage) in NSW. I have 3 toilets and need bidet spray in… 0 17625 |